BC Provincial Police Stories, Vol. 1

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

These two volumes belong to a three-book series that chronicles the
exploits of British Columbia’s Provincial Police from their formation
in 1858 to their amalgamation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in
1950. Each book is divided into short chapters and features period
photos. Many stories are highly dramatic, like the account of the
pursuit and of the arrest of the McLean gang who murdered a B.C. Police
constable; others are amusing, such as Constable B.E. Munkley’s
autobiographical chapter describing how his ineptitude as a rookie bush
cop resulted in his being saved by the very man he was sent out to
arrest.

The quality of the writing is high in both volumes. All the chapters in
Volume 1 and many of those in Volume 3 were penned by Inspector Cecil
(Nobby) Clark, a rare combination of a veteran policeman and readable
author. Having enlisted at the age of 17, Clark served 35 years on the
B.C.P. force until his retirement in 1950. Clark is also a talented
historian, and many of his chapters are bolstered by considerable
research. For example, in Volume 3, the chapter “When Prisoners
Weren’t Pampered” provides a gritty portrait of what 19th-century
prison life was like in British Columbia for prisoners who ranged in age
from 10 to 100.

Those in the mood for some red-blooded tales of gunslingers,
bushwhackers, claim-jumpers, and bootleggers will find this Canadian
history series definitely not boring.